Guessing Games
by Modern Physics
Summary: Calleigh/Ryan CaRWash oneshot. Ryan shows up at Calleigh's apartment looking for some advice.


_Another short Calleigh/Ryan oneshot. I've never, ever written for this pairing (besides my last super-short oneshot) and I'm not sure if I've got them where I want them. Are they in character, out of character? Too boring? Let me know. I'm not sure if I want to write more with this pair or not, but I just want to contribute to the ship since I'm in the mood. Any constructive criticism or compliments are very much appreciated. :)_

It was a relatively quiet night at the apartment complex Calleigh Duquesne lived in. Aside from the seldom truck rolling down the small street below, it was almost blissfully peaceful. She welcomed the quiet with arms wide open, taking in every square inch of solitude like she may never experience it again in her life. Although this wasn't true at all, she did feel reluctant to turn on her stereo and losing the serene effect the silence was having on her. Popping the front open, she put in a Jack Johnson CD she bought while she was out picking up a few things on her way home from work. A new yoga mat, bath salts, paper towel, wintergreen gum, and the CD in question she spotted on her way through the cash register. Tonight was indeed going to be relaxing and completely devoted to doing absolutely nothing.

While the soothing melody of 'Gone' drifted through her quaint, tidy apartment she began to run the water for her bath. The day's last shining slivers of sun were being sucked back into their hiding place, stealing the natural sunlight out of the living room. The CD player cast an eerie, green glow over the small fish tank below it. A few feet down the wall a quiet air-conditioner kicked in.

Calleigh swirled her hand underneath the running water and poured in some pink-coloured bath salts. She watched them fizz and foam, turning the water a light shade of purple. She smiled; all thoughts in her mind absent. Her job was undoubtedly stressful and sometimes (although rarely) she managed to slip away for an evening and pretend she was still the small town country girl she once was. A few songs later and after she had tied her hair back in a loose knot on top of her head, the tub was filled. The smell of grapefruit wafted out of the small bathroom and swirled through the corridor leading out to her kitchen, slithering under her front door and out into the hallway. He stood outside the door mentioned, poised to knock.

_Knock, knock._

Surely she was imagining a knock at her door. No one had ever interrupted her when she was relaxing before. Calleigh closed her eyes and tried to count to ten, but before she even hit five another knock came at the door. Sighing loudly, she removed her foot from the bath and tied her robe tighter around herself, quickly checking her hair in the mirror before she made her way to the front door.

Calleigh didn't have a peephole. The small, circular dot was smoothed over with white plaster. It didn't make much sense, she thought to herself, for her not to have one, especially being in her line of work. She made a mental note to talk to her superintendent about that during the week sometime. She raised a small, manicured hand to the silver doorknob and opened it slowly, only revealing a few inches of the world outside her apartment; she left the deadbolt on.

'Hi Cal, is this a bad time?'

Ryan stood before her door, looking as if he had just come from work. He was working later shifts than her for the past few weeks in the lab. It was hard to determine someone's mood and reason for coming to their co-worker's house at nine in the evening, but his voice suggested it was something important. She closed the door and undid the deadbolt, swinging it open slowly to reveal a defeated, yet still very persuasive, Ryan. He had a dishevelled look about him, and Calleigh subconsciously ushered him into her small porch. 'No,' she began, before adding 'well, I was about to get a bath… why, what do you need?'

Ryan's gaze flitted around the small complex; he took in all he possibly could. The paintings that lined the walls, the trinkets that adorned the small, delicate ledges… they all told him something about her. She was a storybook and her treasures were the pages he desperately wanted to read. However, more pressing matters were at hand.

'It's this case I'm working in the lab,' he began quietly, his eyes falling onto a small travel book about Ireland. He smiled to himself and tucked that bit of information somewhere in his mind for a rainy day. 'I've hit a wall, Cal. I just wanted your advice on something.'

Calleigh shifted her weight to her other foot as she stood in her kitchen, watching him as if he was from another planet. She tried to figure out why he had come to her place instead of just calling her. She was momentarily baffled and tied her robe tighter around herself instinctively. She couldn't help but think he had come here looking for a little more than advice about an ongoing case at the lab. Oh, how she had let her mind wander.

'Sure, fire away,' she said in her faint, southern drawl as she readjusted the pins holding her hair up. 'Do you want some coffee?' Ryan nodded as he took a seat on her oversized red loveseat. He felt as if he had been sitting in her living room for eternity when in fact he had never even stepped foot in her apartment before tonight. Calleigh busied herself in the kitchen, taking down mugs, plugging in the coffee machine, and silently cursing herself for not picking up some sweets while she was out. She rationalized in her mind that buying a yoga mat and a box of donuts would have been quite contradictive as she poured some measly cashews into a clear crystal dish before heading into the living room.

Ryan took a sip of his coffee and nodded appreciatively. Calleigh reciprocated and wondered if her bathwater was cold now; she had mixed feelings about this sudden turn of events.

'Delko talks about you a lot,' Ryan began quietly, 'and I was just wondering…' he trailed off, running his thumb over the handle of a white mug. Calleigh tucked her hair behind her ears, fully aware of the advice he was looking for.

'You're wondering if I'm seeing Eric, are you?' Calleigh said with a half-hearted laugh as she swirled the black coffee around in her mug, looking down on the rug beneath her perfectly pedicured feet. Ryan made an inaudible noise and shifted in the loveseat. 'Things with Delko are… well,' Calleigh began, knitting her brows in contemplation, 'confusing.' Ryan smiled and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt in anticipation. 'I'd figured just as much,' he said through a stifled sigh.

'Ever since his accident, I've felt a stronger connection to him,' she said in her breathy, southern drawl. 'I mean, not in this crazy religious way,' she added quickly, 'but it's just that we'd been friends for so long and it really hit me that this could happen to any one of us.' Ryan nodded in silent agreement as Calleigh continued. 'I just… don't feel the same way about him as he feels about me,' she said quite candidly, putting a palm up to her forehead. 'He interpreted my friendship and compassion for something else entirely,' she said through another sigh as she glanced over at the light being cast from her silenced stereo.

'I've never interpreted your friendship and compassion for anything more than that,' Ryan said almost bitterly, looking down at the carpet. Calleigh couldn't help but smile and nod her head in acknowledgement. 'And that's what makes you different,' she added shyly. 'I'm not afraid of you, and you keep me grounded. Dare I say I do the same for you,' she added in a playful tone. He looked up at her and smiled a smile that reached his eyes. It made her light up in return, and the entire room felt like it was in bloom with a newfound understanding.

'So, you really don't feel anything more than friendship for Delko?' Ryan did blunt very well. Sometimes it made her angry, but sometimes she admired his ability to get to the point. Now was one of the latter times. 'No, I don't. But why did you come all the way to ask me this? This has nothing to do with your case.' In her mind, she stood back and realized just how well they communicated with each other. She didn't once question him about his personal questions, and never once did she feel uncomfortable in describing her feelings. Ryan stood up and put his hands in his jeans pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels repeatedly.

'Oh, but it has everything to do with my case,' he added almost arrogantly, but with a smile. 'Natalia told me that you had feelings for Delko, and I said you didn't. We put a little wager on it, you know.' Calleigh smiled mischievously and looked up at him from her chair. 'You and your foolish gambling addiction,' she said in her sugary sweet voice; the words just dripped out of her mouth like honey. Ryan smiled and walked over to the door, one hand still in his pocket.

'Well, I should let you get back to whatever it is you were doing before I got here,' he said in his casual tone. Calleigh nodded and stood up, tugging at her robe and making sure she was covered up properly. She wanted to say something smart or sexy, she couldn't decide, so she just stood there waiting for him to leave. He reached out for the doorknob and turned around to face her one last time, a sly grin spreading across his face.

'I don't have an addiction anymore, by the way,' he said in a low voice, 'but I do know how to play my cards well if the situation calls for it. I never, ever lose.' The door shut soundly behind him and his footsteps could be heard faintly as he padded down the long hallway outside the apartment leading to the elevators. Calleigh stood rooted to the spot in her kitchen, wondering if that relaxing bath would help at all right now. She figured it probably wouldn't, so she took a tub of chocolate ice cream into bed with her and called it a night.

* * *


End file.
